第六十五章 A Conjugal Scene
When the name of Villefort is uttered, the baroness turns pale and rises as though confronted by a ghost, pressing her husband for an explanation of how he came to learn the secret of her first marriage to M. de Nargonne. Danglars, cold and brutal, lays out the facts of her former husband’s death and shifts the conversation to his own grievances, demanding that Debray share the loss of 700,000 francs or be financially ruined. Stunned by this exposure and overwhelmed by the accumulation of recent disasters in her household, Madame Danglars sinks into a chair and attempts to faint, but her husband ignores her, shuts the bedroom door, and returns to his own apartments, leaving her to wonder whether the confrontation was merely a disagreeable dream.
Baroness’s Reaction to Villefort’s Name
The baroness remains composed until Danglars pronounces the name of Villefort. She then turns pale, springs up as if propelled by a mechanism, and stretches out her hands as though warding off a phantom. She advances toward her husband, as if demanding a secret he may be concealing through some odious calculation. Startled, she cries out, “M. de Villefort!—What do you mean?”
Danglars Reveals Nargonne’s Suicide
Danglars coldly explains that M. de Nargonne, her first husband, upon discovering after nine months of absence that she was six months enceinte, died of grief or rage—being neither philosopher nor banker, and finding nothing to extract from a king’s attorney. He admits his brutality and boasts of it as one of the reasons for his commercial success, adding that Nargonne killed himself rather than her because he lacked the cash to save himself. Danglars concludes that his life belongs to his cash.
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